So, the obvious short answer is both. What I wanted to explore here is how readers reconcile these two different approaches especially if they occur in the same story.
In my story "The Prankster" the protagonist is punished for being a manipulative insensitive jerk by actually being forced to change sex. In the end of the story, she actually enjoys the change and future role. So, was Ryan punished or given a gift? What I have noticed from reviews on multiple sites is that there is some conflict within reviewers as to how to look at the ending.
In the story "The Choice" many reviewers said the witch's punishment was too harsh but was it really a punishment at all if the ending is positive for the characters involved. Which goes back to the original question of whether the transformation is a punishment or gift.
In the Count of Monte Cristo, prison is actually a gift in disguise because it helps Edmund Dante find lost treasure that makes him extremely rich and extremely influential in Paris society. He gets the girl, gets his revenge, and lives happily ever after. Is this a man just making the best of a negative situation or does it justify negative actions because the end is happy.
In other words, do we justify forced transformations as being morally acceptable if the end result is positive? Do we blur the lines of tragedy and comedy to the point where we cannot distinguish the two. Is it truly a happy ending if the protagonist is brainwashed or mentally changed to the point where the original character no longer exists.
In my story Room 1408, I had a curious reviewer that suggested that protagonist character Michael had become the woman she was always meant to be. Is this true? Here we have a male character tortured and forced by a haunted room to change into a woman with the alternative being death or greater suffering. Was Michael always supposed to be a woman and the room helped her realize it or was Michael just beaten into submission by the room? Is the evil of the room morally acceptable knowing that Michael's life went in a more positive direction afterwards.
I think there may be two types of readers. One is the type that wants to be the character in the story and live the fantasy of the story as if they were in it themselves. The second is looking at the story from the outside and examining everything in a more objective way. In Room 1408, if the reader fantasizes about being a woman than Michael's change is desirable. If the reader looks at it objectively, that room is an evil sadistic room. Many reviewers have asked why the room is the way it is. I don't really have an answer because its based off the Stephen King novel of the same name. It's an evil room because it's evil. Should there be an answer and could any answer satisfy the mystery?
And my final question is whether there is more exiting drama in a protagonist that is forced to change and deals with the situation or a protagonist that seeks change and ultimately finds it? What is more satisfying? What has greater plot drama and character development?
Comments
Excellent Points
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. If an evil person is sent to prison for their crimes, and that person is rehabilitated, the results are good. If a male misogynist, in order to be rehabilitated, is turned into a woman and experiences what it is like to be a woman, and is eventually rehabilitated. The results are good. Of course, in the real world, this means forced feminization, the results of which are not possibly reversed. Rehabilitation means that a person must have the means to get on with their life. Our system in the USA essentially dumps people onto the streets with little to help them get along with their lives. When people leave a term of punishment and rehabilitation, hopefully their lives are not the same as they were. Recidivism is the sign of the systems failure. Our systems essentially are just 'getting even', and in fact make the prisoners' pent lives worse than they were before.
So back to the question: is forced feminization good? Only if the punishment fits the crime, and only if there is (hope of) rehabilitation. For some, rehabilitation is not possible, and that is another problem, one that I'm not sure what the solution is. In the universes where magic or Sci-Fi rules, it is another matter. If forced fem really works, I think it should be up to the recipient as to their final outcome. Without brainwashing and Identity theft, gender won't change. I would imagine some would find their true identity, the reason for their misogyny, and prefer to change. I'm sure whatever the results, the experience would be quite traumatic as it should be.
Portia
Your question has several distinct parts that should be address
1. Should it be considered punishment or gift when is what the one receiving the transformation wanted to be transformed in the first place? The one transformed would of course consider this a gift in this situation. Whereas the "Punisher" in the story could consider it a "disguised gift" if the Punisher knew before hand that the one being transformed wanted it. Or the Punisher could consider it a failed punishment if he or she did not have any idea of the other's wish and later discovers that he/she did exactly what the other wished. Or the punisher never finding out about the other's wish to be transformed, continues to think of the transformation as a punishment.
2. The person that was transformed against their will never wanted the change. From the character's point of view this is a punishment. A story about a character that loses their legs in an accident would be no different, the character has lost something he/she considered very important, maybe so important to him/her that life without it is not worth living. Even if he/she eventually learns to love the change and consider it a gift, it only because he/she learned to accept what happened to him/her.
So here it is just as important in what the "Punisher" intended. Was the transformation intended as a punishment or a gift?
How each reader views the characters acceptance, or lack of, the transformation is something we as writers can do little about. Two people can read the same story, where a person is turned into the opposite sex against their will in which the end of the story the character loves their new self and would never want to go back. One reader could leave appalled that the character did not fight the changes more and try harder to change back, while the next reader will find it hard to believe that the character fought the changes as long as he/she did.
We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.